GRASSY PLACES. 277 



(Galium), and many another flower that is familiar to 

 our eyes, and the stream that waters it is fringed 

 with yellow Flags (Iris). But the lovely Butomus 

 of the Thames and Trent is hardly to be seen on the 

 Riviera. Were it not for the great Reeds (Arundo) 

 which form its western barrier, this meadow might 

 remind us of our Northern home. 



Rank meadows such as this are not characteristic 

 of the Riviera. On the contrary, they are rare, for 

 there is little level ground. 



There is no common that I know of in the imme- 

 diate neighbourhood of Nice. But at Levens, twelve 

 miles to the north, stretches a lofty table-land, carpeted 

 with the greenest herbage : a " Grassy place " extend- 

 ing for miles without tree or hedge or wall. "Du 

 veritable gazou anglais, doux comme du velours, et 

 d'un vert qui n'a pas son pareil," to use the words of 

 Doctor Antonio. On the east rises the Fe'rion ; to the 

 north, beyond the deep and precipitous V valley of 

 the Vesubia, stands the dark mass of the Vial (see 

 Fig. 98). This is the mountain whose black crags 

 you see behind the Mont-Chauve as you look up the 

 Avenue de la Gare from the Place Masse" na. To the 

 south lie mapped out clearly the promontory of 

 Antibes and the He Ste. Marguerite ; to the west a 

 multitude of mountains, rank beyond rank, like 

 Titans marching to a war. 



The Levens common is not studded with golden 

 Gorse (Ulex), like many of those in England and 

 Ireland ; but in Spring the western part of it is covered 

 with Narcissus (N. poeticus). Mixed w r ith these is 

 the Bellevalia (Hyatinthus Romanu* L.) a rare plant, 

 with dirty-white perianth, petaloid filaments, and blue 



